Humidity hangs in the air, as it is wont to do early in the evening of a Daegu spring. It’s not even June and temperatures are already hitting 32 degrees celsius. An overcast sky promises a rain that never comes.

But there she is anyway, outside daddy’s store. Six years old, barefoot in a pink sundress, staring at her shuffling feet, wagging her hand. She shakes, wiggles, and thrusts. She is dancing on the street. No music but the song in her head. And based on her moves that song appears to be “Single Ladies.”

She can’t tell but she fills the older onlookers with envy. Not because of her sweet dance moves,or even her youth. They’re turning green because they’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to be so free of self-consciousness. It was long enough ago that the memory has faded, but close enough that it’s faintly visible. That time when they, too, could roam the streets dancing barefoot on a Tuesday.